PatRon FIVE Has Been Protecting The West From Hostiles For 80 Years!

Get Schooled In The Rich History Of The Mad Foxes In Their Own Words

This video was produced for a Patrol Squadron FIVE (VP-5) Heritage Reunion event by the Mad Foxes. It traces the history of VP-5 from original establishment in 1937 to the present day. Over eight squadron designation changes and several aircraft changes the Mad Foxes have always endured. Presently equipped with the Boeing P-8A Poseidon, VP-5 flew the Lockheed P-3 Orion for the previous 47 years, 39 of them in variants of the P-3C model. Before that the Consolidated PBY Catalina and Lockheed P2V Neptune were the primary aircraft flown by VP-5. Thanks to YouTuber kcott04 for uploading this retrospective. No Fox!

Official US Navy Photograph

As a component of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing ELEVEN (PatWing-11), VP-45 has deployed primarily to Atlantic and Mediterranean locations, with exceptions during wartime. The Mad Foxes have called Keflavik in Iceland, Rota in Spain, Sigonella in Sicily, Lajes in the Azores, Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico, Kindley Field in Bermuda, Souda Bay in Crete, and more recently Kadena in Okinawa and Misawa in Japan home when deployed.

Bill Walton is a life-long aviation enthusiast and expert in aircraft recognition. As a teenager Bill helped his engineer father build an award-winning T-18 homebuilt airplane in their Wisconsin basement. Bill is a freelance writer, an avid sailor, engineer, announcer, husband, father, uncle, mentor, coach, and Navy veteran. Bill lives north of Houston TX with his wife and son under the approach path to KDWH runway 17R, which means they get to look up at a lot of airplanes. A very good thing.